UN hails agreement on reconstructing Serbian religious sites in Kosovo

The senior United Nations envoy to Kosovo today welcomed a new memorandum paving the way for the reconstruction of Serbian religious sites damaged during violence there last year.

“This is important not just for the Kosovo Serb population, but for all who believe in a stable, multi-ethnic, and tolerant Kosovo, and respect for all religious sites,” Søren Jessen-Petersen said in a statement released in Pristina.

The new memorandum of understanding launched the €4.2 million (euro) reconstruction effort. It was signed by Patriarch Pavle on behalf of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Astrit Haraqija on behalf of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo.

In March 2004, in the worst violence since the UN took over, an onslaught by Albanians to drive out Serb, Roma and Ashkali communities led to 19 people being killed and nearly 1,000 injured, as well as hundreds of homes and centuries-old Serbian cultural sites razed or burned.